The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1887-07-01
THE LOVE OF MONEY.

same laklr alter lighting a fresh
cigar, Z" aud be is as apt to catch the
citizen of big town as the farmer
living by himself. | was attached
to circus for several seasons, and
my statistics proved that the biggest
share of my money came from towns
people. | had q wheel Of fortune,
two or three patent medicines, a
prize drawing, ETC., and have taken
more money at once out of lawyer
or merchant than out OF a country
man. 1t is curious how all sorts Of
people will invest their money on 6
wheel Of fortune There never was
one made Which did not give the
operator seventy-five per cent. ad-
vantage TO begin with, and by trick.
cry this advantage is increased hf~
teen or twenty per cent. You must
know that the operator has things SO
fixed that he can stop the wheel at
| will. In town in Rhode Island a
member of the common council who
was accounted one the sharpest men
in the locality left $500 with me be
fore he quit my wheel. If there is
any rafting or dice shaking it is ali
fixed of course, In the prize draw
ings you may find gold and silver
watches and sums of money display;
-,,. 49," ,t these cannot by an possibil-
ity he drawn.
- know 5e*ctat men who have
grown rich AMI retired from Dust,
ness on the sale of liver III vigOratOrs
and consumption cures. Both rem>
edies are made of the same materials
to wit, water whisky, aid one or
two extracts. In Hayt6n; Ono, a
fakir connected with our show sold
1870 bottles of liver invigorator and
| POS bottles of consumption cure in
| four hours, and not over one quarter
| of the lot was Sold to farmers. When
YOU appeal to mans avarice yoii
hit him hard when you get him to
| thinking his liver is out of order, or
that he is Consumptive, you can take
his last cent. You have seen the
glass bulbs filed with reddish fluid
which faAIrs clai m to te>t the blood
wi h? Any one cf average sense
must know they are frauds, bu. |
have seen the best physicians in a
town pay their ten cents with the
rest. About the only thing COS
nected with the outside of a circus
which is not fraud on the public
is the electric battery. That's all
right, and the owner will give you
all your money calls for, and some~
times more.
THREE CARD MONTE.
"Now take the three-card monte
business or thimhle rigging. Those
two games have been worked for the
last fifty years all over the United
States, and the public has been
warned against item tens of thou>
sands Of times. They are still tie
most profitable games to be worked.
Even old gamblers are enticed to
bet. Several years ago, while | was
taking a vacation at health resort
in Wisconsin, couple of tue ffatcrr-
ity called for my assistance to hep
work farmer. The intended viz
tim was a sharp, keen man, about 80
years old. He had been everywhere
and was up on all lodges. He had
been tried with the gold brick and
treasure lodges, but had refused t.
bite. We held COuncil and decided
upon a plan. He had three or four
fine horses for sale, and the trio Of
us UTONc OuU W MS pId(C ~ Lh"rAS d"
purchase. We were Illinois stock
raisers and horsemeu, and 1t was ap-
parent that he SEED us up for sharp
fellows. One of my companions,
whom | will call Jim, did most of the
talking, and be alone desired to do
the buying. Jack and myself sat
down on an old hay rack in the
harvard, and scarcely noticed the
horses as they were paraded up and
down in front of Us. At the proper
time Jack took out his cards and
began to show me how it was done.
bet him that could pick out the
card and we began to talk in loud
tones and attract attention.
'The farmer finally came over.
| He knew all about the game and
smiled in pity at the idea of being
caught, but in less than ten minutes,
and that without any urging from
any of US he had bet and won $40.
That was the entering wedge. He
was allowed to win $50, and then
cleaned out of $40. His spirit OF
ayarice was now thoroughly aroused